Russian gay activist says agents seized him

RUSSIA

Jim Heintz, Associated Press

Published
4:00 am PDT, Sunday, September 19, 2010

Russian gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev speaks at a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 27, 2010. Russian gay rights activists say they will hold a rally outside the European Union's office in Moscow to protest what they say is a lack of support from the EU and its member states. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) less

Russian gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev speaks at a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 27, 2010. Russian gay rights activists say they will hold a rally outside the European Union's office in Moscow ... more

Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko, ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Russian gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev speaks at a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 27, 2010. Russian gay rights activists say they will hold a rally outside the European Union's office in Moscow to protest what they say is a lack of support from the EU and its member states. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) less

Russian gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev speaks at a news conference in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, May 27, 2010. Russian gay rights activists say they will hold a rally outside the European Union's office in Moscow ... more

Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Russian gay activist says agents seized him

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A prominent Russian gay rights activist who vanished from a Moscow airport last week said Saturday he is back in the capital after being held for more than two days by men he believes were state security agents.

Alexeyev is widely known in the international gay rights movement for his repeated efforts to organize parades in Moscow. The city, whose mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, has publicly called homosexuals "satanic," routinely bans the gatherings, most of which are harshly dispersed by police within minutes.

Alexeyev said by telephone that he was heading to board a Geneva-bound plane on Wednesday, but was stopped by airport officials after passing through passport and security control and told his baggage needed further inspection. He said he was taken to a small office and that the officials told a Swiss Airlines representative to offload Alexeyev's checked baggage.

Swiss spokeswoman Andrea Kreuzer said the company was informed Alexeyev hadn't properly passed security checks. The state news agency Itar-Tass quoted a Domodedovo official Friday as saying Alexeyev had been detained after refusing to remove his footwear at the security check.

While in custody, Alexeyev said the men insulted him, using "all the slang words for homosexuals" and demanded he withdraw suits he had filed with the European Court of Human Rights protesting Moscow's banning of gay rights rallies.

Homosexuality was decriminalized in Russia in 1993, but anti-gay feelings remain strong.